Asia-Pacific News

Revenge petrol bombing injures dozens at China bank

May 13, 2011, 8:58 GMT

Beijing - A petrol bomb attack by a disgruntled former employee injured dozens of people at a bank in north-western China's Gansu province on Friday, the local government said.

The attack in Gansu's Tianzhu county injured more than 40 people, 19 of them seriously, the county government said in a statement.

The petrol bomb was ignited around 8:30 am (0030 GMT) during a staff meeting at the Tianzhu Rural Credit Cooperative bank.

The statement identified former cashier Yang Xianwen, 39, as the man suspected of attacking the bank 'out of revenge.'

It said Yang was sacked last month for misusing funds and had returned to the bank on Friday with a single bottle of petrol.

Yang fled after the attack and police were hunting him, the statement said.

A witness told the official Xinhua news agency that he saw at least 10 people 'throwing themselves out of the window of the fourth-floor meeting room' following the attack.

Other badly burned people were carried away on stretchers, the witness said.